When the season closed, the owners of "zilpaterol" winners Yat Ding Win and Legend Express were preparing to appeal against the disqualification of both horses following the contaminated feed episode that made headlines in June.

However, those appeals were withdrawn in late July when it was resolved in an unusual fashion, with the United States-based supplier of the feeds, LMF Feeds Incorporated, agreeing to compensate the owners for the loss of prize money.

It was a long time coming but, in July, rider Vincent Ho Chak-yiu finally had the steel plate removed from his left arm. The jockey had the plate since February last year when Ho suffered a sickening break, falling at Sha Tin and being kicked by a following horse.

Alvin Ng Ka-chun was the 2012 winner of the Asian Young Guns Challenge, a jockeys' invitation for apprentices, but couldn't defend it in New Zealand in August, finishing eighth in this year's renewal.

Another local jockey, Derek Leung Ka-chun, extended his horizons to France during the summer, hooking up with the stable of Olivier Doleuze's father, Georges, mostly to ride work but he did manage to get one race ride at Deauville and finished down the track.

During July, Kim Kelly's stewards' panel flagged a coming increase in careless riding penalties. Careless riding charges have dramatically increased in the past two years and stewards will place a new harsher scale of punishments before the racing committee for approval on September 26.

Freelance jockey Terry Wong Chi-wai, who had failed in July to show cause why he should be licensed for 2013-14, appealed against the decision and fell short with that final bid in early August. He has since successfully applied to become a work rider with the Me Tsui Yu-sak stable.

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as In case you missed it during summer break ...